Démare underlines ability with Vattenfalls Cyclassics triumph

World under 23 champion Arnaud Démare got the better of older, more experienced competitors in yesterday’s Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, the FDJ-BigMat rider beating Andrei Greipel (Lotto Belisol), Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan), Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step) and the rest of the peloton to the line.

The twenty year old Frenchman positioned himself well in the final kilometre and then powered ahead inside the last 200 metres. It was the sixth and biggest win of his debut pro season, and underlines what should be a big future for him.

Further back, a crash in the bunch brought down several riders, with South African sprinter Daryl Impey (Orica GreenEdge) appearing the worst affected. He suffered fractured ribs in the fall. The team’s designated sprinter Matt Goss earlier punctured out of contention.

The 245.9 kilometre race kicked off with an early break by Gregor Gazvoda (Ag2r La Mondiale), RadioShack’s Jesse Sergent and Andreas Dietziker (NettApp) clipped away and built a lead of four minutes 50 seconds after 30 kilometres of racing. Liquigas and Sky were at the head of the bunch but gave the move some elastic, allowing their advantage to rise to six minutes 45 seconds with 95 kilometres covered.

Just over ten kilometres later, Sergent punctured and dropped back; the remaining two leaders were just two minutes 49 seconds back at the first ascent of the Waseberg.

This then went back up to three minutes 15 seconds with 100 kilometres remaining. Gasvoda and Dietziker tried to hang on but were finally reeled in with 60 kilometres left; as that happened, BMC Racing Team’s Marco Pinotti surged ahead and was joined by Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ), Martin Mortensen (Vacansoleil-DCM), Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan), Simon Spilak (Katusha), Thomas Juul Jensen (Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank) and Matteo Bono (Lampre ISD).

These built a lead of half a minute but the bunch got within five seconds of them with 37 kilometres to go. In response Pinotti did a particularly long turn at the front, hammering it to keep the impetus going and this was enough to stir the others on and to start opening the gap again.

The Italian was joined by the others escapees, less Spilak and Juul Jensen, and together they extended their advantage a little more. However they were brought back before the riders crested the summit of the Waseberg for the second time, where Hoogerland launched an attack.

The Vacansoleil DCM rider was joined by medium sized group, with a number of strong riders including Tour de France green jersey Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step).

Boonen then attacked solo with 23 kilometres to go, getting a gap while the others were caught. However the peloton closed up a kilometre later, bringing things back together. Sagan suffered a mechanical issue and was delayed; while he would eventually make it back to the bunch, the energy expended meant he was lacking his usual power for the sprint.

With nineteen kilometres left, Garmin-Sharp’s Sep Vanmarcke clipped away alone, but was soon closed down. A group moved clear on the final ascent of the Waseberg, and after several others joined up, RadioShack Nissan’s Ben Hermans accelerated and raced ahead solo.

Behind, a group containing Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and others were chasing, and joined soon afterwards by more reinforcements including Garmin-Sharp’s Dan Martin.

These caught Hermans just inside eight kilometres to go. The peloton had things completely under control, though, and everything was back together with 6.8 kilometres left.

Astana’s Muravyev wasn’t reading the script and attacked, holding a slight lead going into the final five kilometres. The sprinters’ teams got him back 4.2 kilometres from the finish, with Argos Shimano and Omega Pharma Quick Step seeking to take control.

However neither team could stop FDJ’s Démare, who surged ahead in the sprint and bettered Greipel, Nizzolo, Boonen and the rest to grab his biggest pro win.